Tuesday, December 16, 2014

After months of heightened racial tensions, an artist has created images of the Simpsons joining the protests in memory of those who have died.

In Italian artist AleXsandro Palombo’s series called “I Can’t Breathe,” the iconic yellow cartoon family is turned black — with Bart Simpson seen experiencing the same tragedies as Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and all the other victims.

Mr Palombo recently told MailOnline:

With this art series I wanted to denounce the current social situation, the unbelievable racial facts of recent times. The images from the suffocation of Eric Garner are horrible, uncivilized. This is a crazy and an unacceptable violence. We are experiencing a dangerous social regression and if America does not react to the rampant racism it will no longer be the country of freedom and dreams, but the country of oppression and injustice.

The images are shocking yet also dishearteningly accurate as Chief Wiggums re-enacts the behavior that several officers in these excessive force cases have been accused of.

Monday, December 15, 2014

In a series called 'I Can't Breathe', Italian artist AleXsandro Palombo has turned the yellow cartoon family black

Reflecting the death of Tamir Rice, Chief Wiggum aims a gun at Bart, who is clearly holding a toy gun, at point-blank range

Another echoes the death of Eric Garner with the police holding a black cartoon character in a chokehold

The artist told MailOnline he created the series in memory of the victims, adding: 'I wanted to denounce the current social situation, the unbelievable racial facts of recent times'

America's race shootings have led to months of unrest across the country - but now an artist has imagined the Simpsons protesting in memory of the victims.

In a series called 'I Can't Breathe', Italian artist AleXsandro Palombo has turned the usually yellow cartoon family black in memory of Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and all the other victims.

In a series of shocking images, Chief Wiggum chases Bart waving a baton, then aims a gun at the ten-year-old, who is clearly holding a toy gun, at point-blank range.

Bart is then pictured face down and apparently dead in front of a giant billboard showing the police chief with a smoking gun and the words: 'Cops Never Sleep'.

The pictures eerily reflect the death of Tamar Rice last month, a 12-year-old who was playing with a pellet gun last month.

He was shot by a Cleveland police officer at a park on November 22 and died the following day.

Mr Palombo also echoes the death of Eric Garner - with Chief Wiggum depicted holding a black character in a chokehold and then appears on the news alongside presenter Kent Brockman discussing the incident.

Mr Garner died in Staten Island, New York, when officer Daniel Pantaleo put him in an apparent chokehold, despite reports he had said: 'I can't breathe' - words which have now become a prominent feature in protests.

Mr Palombo told MailOnline: 'With this art series I wanted to denounce the current social situation, the unbelievable racial facts of recent times.

'The images from the suffocation of Eric Garner are horrible, uncivilized. This is a crazy and an unacceptable violence.'

He added: 'We are experiencing a dangerous social regression and if America does not react to the rampant racism it will no longer be the country of freedom and dreams, but the country of oppression and injustice.'

Other pictures show Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and a whole host of characters from the show are seen waving placards to 'stop racism' - reflecting the chaos that engulfed Ferguson, Missouri after the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

The family also pose in front of the Statue of Liberty, whose face is covered with a Ku Klux Klan hood, with their mouths covered.

Mr Palombo is well-known for his satirical artwork to promote causes he believes.

Last month, he depicted demale cartoon characters as victims of domestic violence to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and also re-imagined Disney princesses as breast cancer survivors to promote awareness of the disease.